Cleaning-tool.



J. M. STABEL.

CLEANING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16, 1912.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Jam-(1M 1, M

JOSEPH M.- STABEL, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DOMESTIC APPLIANCESCOMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

cLE NIne-roon Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Application fiIed'October 16, 1912. Serial No. 726,165.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. STABEL, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaning-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cleaning-tools, particularly such as areemployed in cleaning floors and floor-coverings, and in which a head oroperating-member is mounted upon a long shaft or handle by which it maybe moved over the surface to be cleaned.

The invention is particularly applicable to tools, of'the'type inquestion, such as are employed in connection with vacuum-cleaningsystems, although the invention in-certainaspects may be usefullyapplied to tools of other t pes.

The ob ect of the invention is to'produce a cleaning-tool which may beconveniently used under and around furniture, as well as upon openfloor-spaces. To this end I employ, in combination. with a head, and ahandle or shaft pivotally connected therewith, so as to be angularlyadjustable in a vertical plane, means mounted upon the shaft andmanually-operable by the user of the tool to adjust the angle betweenthe head and the shaft, or to fix these parts in adjusted position. Inthis manner the tool is adapted to be used normally with the handle at aconvenient inclination to the floor, while, in working under furniture,the handle may be adjusted to occupy a more nearly horizontal position,and in either position of the handle the tool may be held at the properangular relation with the handle to cause its operativeextremity to bepresented evenly against the floor-surface. y

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a side-elevation of acleaning-tool embodying the present invention, the figure showing infull lines the normal position of the parts, and in dotted lines theposition assumed when the tool is used under low furniture; Fig. 2 is abottom-view of the tool of Fig. 1, with the parts adjusted to anintermediate position and shown partly in horizontal median section;Fig. 3 is a vertical median section through the pivotal joint whichconnects the head and the shaft; and Fig. 4 is a section, on the line4-4 in Fig.2,

looking from right to left in the latter figure. M

v The invention is illustrated as embodied in a vacuum-cleaning toolhavinga hollow head, of ordinary form, provided with the usual slot ororifice 6, the tool being intended for use with the lips which surroundor define this orifice pressed closely against the surface of a carpetor other floor-covering.

This head 5 is provided with the usual tapered nipple 7 for connectingit with a tubular handle or shaft.

The tubular shaft 8 is of ordinary form, having at its forward end theusual tapered sleeve 9 for connection with the head, and at its rear enda tapered nipple 10 for connection with the vacuum-hose. The nipple 7and the sleeve 9 are not, however, joined together in the usual manner,but between these parts is interposed a pivotal joint embodying featuresof the present invention. The joint just referred to comprises asocketmember 11 having a tapered sleeve 12 adapted to form a slipjointwith the nipple 7 of the head 5. This socket-member has a subable uponthe periphery of the socket-memher. This ring is connected with theballmember by two pivot-pins 16, which are fixed in the ball-member atthe extremities of a horizontal diameter thereof, the socketmember beingrecessed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, to receive the pins. Thering 15 has an annular shoulder 17 which bears against the pivot-pins.By means of screws 18 passing through the ring and threaded into thesocket-member the ring may be drawn 'ainst the pivot-pins in such. amanner as to force the ball-member closely against its seat in thesocket-member. pivot-pins thus serve the function of maintaining thebearing-surfaces of the joint in The engagement, while any wear betweenthese surfaces maybe taken up by means of the screws 18'. The pinsservethe further purpose' of limiting the relative movement of the ballandsocket-members to a pivotal movement about a' horizontal 3X15, slncemovement in any otherdlrection is prevented by the inter-engagement ofthe pins with the sides of the recesses in the socket-- member.Accordingly, the joint provides 1 for relative angular adjustment-of theshaft and the head in a vertical plane. While the use of sphericalengaging surfaces 1s not essential in .a joint having its movementslimited as just described, I find that the con-' 'struction in questionfacilitates the manufacture of the device, since the bearing-sur-' facesmay be produced in each case by a. single turning operation, and ithas'the furtheradvantage that-lost motion in all directions between theparts of the joint may be-taken up by a single adjustment, thusproviding eifectually against wear in the mechanism. The use of thepivot-pins in connection with the spherical bearing-members has thefurther advantage that it produces less friction between the parts thanin the case of the usual spherical joint, wherein the ball-member isretained against its seat by means of a retaining-device hav-' ing anannularbearing or seat against the ball-member.

The pivotal joint just-described is useful 'in connection withcleaning-tools having heads of various forms, including those in whichthe head has a bearing-surface against the floor which is so wide thatit maintains itself in proper enga ement therewith without the necessityof fixing the head and the shaft in their relative angular position. In

connection with comparatively narrow devices, however, such as the head5, it is necessary that the proper engagement of the head with thefloor-surface be maintained by a fixed connection with the shaft.Accordingly the illustrated tool is provided with manually-operablemeans for adjusting and fixing the relative positions of the ]OiIlt- 'isbifurcated or recessed to receive the ballshaped rear-end 'of an arm 25which pro-' jects rearwardly from the fastening-ring 15 on thesocket-member of the pivotal joint.

By rotating the sleeve 20 the arm 24 is rocked-in such a manner as torock the arm 25, and cause a pivotal movement of the members of thejoint. After such adjustment there is sufficient friction between theparts to maintain the pivotal joint in its adjusted position.Accordingly, whether the shaft be in either of the positions shown inFig. 1, or in any intermediate position, the head 5 is held in itsangular relation with the shaft with-sufficient firmness to permit itsuse in the ordinary manner. In Workmg around furniture, therefore, it 1snecessary, in order that the tool may be used a under such furniture,merely to rotate the sleeve 20 partially upon the shaft, whereupon theshaft may be dropped to horizontal position while the head of the toolstill engages the floor-surface properly. Tc pre- By'articulating thearms 24 and 25 in the manner above described, and employing these armsin connection with a shaft and a joint-member having a slip-joint suchas that provided by the sleeve 9 and the nipple 14, the pivotal joint isrendered adaptable for use with cleaning-tools of various forms. If, forexample, it be desired to sustitute, for the head 5, a head having awide, flat bearing-surface, such, for example, as is employed upon ahardwood floor, the shaft may be disengaged from the pivotal joint bydisconnecting the slip-joint in question, and by the same operation thearms 24: and 25 are disengaged. The shaft and the pivotal joint may thenbe connnected again in such a position that the arms are out ofenagement with each other. The pivotal oint is then freely movable, thuspermitting the shaft to swing freely in a vertical plane, as isdesirable in using a floor-cleaning tool of the land above referred to.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbeforedescribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of theinvention, as it is defined in the following claims.

t I claim manually-rotatable sleeve surrounding the shaft, andconnections between the sleeve and the head adapted to produce angularadjustment of the head when the sleeve is rotated upon the shaft. l

- '2. In a cleanin tool,' the combination,

with a hollow hea and a tubular shaft angularly adjustable in a verticalplane, of a.

manually-rotatable sleeve surrounding the shaft, and inter-engaging armsconnected with the head and the sleeve whereby the head is angularlyadjusted by rotation of the sleeve.

3. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising twomembers, the first of said members being adapted for detachableconnection with a cleaning-head; a tubular shaft connected, by aslip-joint, with the second of said members; and manually-operablemeans, mounted upon the shaft, for producing angular adjustment of thejoint, said means having operative connections with the firstjoint-member which are disengageable when the shaft is disengaged fromthe second member at said slipjoint.

4. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising twomembers, the first of said members being adapted for connection with acleaning-head; a shaft connected with the second joint-member; amanually-rotatable member journaled on the shaft; and connectionsbetween the first joint-member and the manually-rotatable membercomprising inter-engaging arms, for angularly adjusting the head and theshaft about said joint, one of the arms having a recessed extremitywhich embraces the extremity of the other arm.

5. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising twoair-conductin g j oint-members, the first of said members being adaptedfor connection with a cleaning-head; a shaft removably connected withthe second joint-member; a member journaled longitudinally on the shaftand manually rotatable; and interengaging means connecting the firstjoint-member and the rotatable member whereby rotation of the latter maycause angular movement of the pivotal joint, said connecting means beingdisengageable when the shaft is removed from the second joint-member.

6. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising twoair-conducting j oint-members, the first of said members being adaptedfor connection with a cleaning head; a tubular member connected with thesecond joint-member but rotatable relatively thereto, the outlet passagefrom said second joint-member extending through said tubular member; andconnections between the tubular member and the first joint-memberwhereby rotation of the tubular member may cause angular movementbetween the joint-members.

JOSEPH M. STABEL. Witnesses:

C. SOHUYLER DAVIS, D. Gomann.

